Bowled

Bowled is one of the most popular words in a cricketer’s dictionary. It is used when the ball touches the wicket. In this case, there may be several scenarios.

Bowled: three meanings

It is considered that this word has three main meanings:

1. Just the movement of the ball to the wicket when the batsman protects it.
2. As bowled out, that is, the method by which the batsman leaves the field. This happens when the ball touches the wicket after the bowler’s throw.
3. The expression is applicable when scoring points, and it is important for the umpires to note after the throw which of the bowlers knocked out the batsman. Also, bowled is applicable for specifying leg before wicket, caught, stumped, or hit wicket.

Bowled: player elimination

Bowled is the second most popular method of knocking out cricketers. According to data for the period from 1887 to 2012, 21.4% of players dropped out of the game when using this method. How this system works is described in Law 32 of the Laws of Cricket. It is important to understand that batter cannot be bowled from a no-ball, wide or dead ball.

In which case are the players eliminated?

• If the wicket goes down after hitting the ball that the bowler directed. It makes no difference whether the ball has touched the bat, the batsman’s body or any part of his ammunition. In such episodes, usually, the umpires do not have to enter the game and make a strong-willed decision. In most cases, the batsman leaves his position on his own.

When the ball hits the wicket after bouncing off the bat, it is called played on, knocked on or dragged on. If the ball hits the wicket without contact with the batsman, then such a technique is considered pure bowled. At the same time, there are several variations:

• Being bowled through the gate, where the ball travels between the bat and pad.
• Bowled around the legs, where the ball goes behind (to the legside of) the batsman and hits the stumps.

The batsman can be knocked out of the game, even if the bowled method did not work against him. For example, the ball may end up near stumps, and then a fielder will catch it.

Bowled: record holder

Muttiah Muralitharan from Sri Lanka is the record holder for knocking cricketers out of the game in test matches. His playing career lasted from 1992 to 2011. He is the only bowler to have broken the 800 wicket mark in test matches and 530 in the One Day International format. Muralitharan averaged six wickets per match. At the same time, his bowling is perceived ambiguously by experts. Due to the wide extension of the arm (an acquired feature during childbirth), he had an advantage over other cricketers. The leaders discussed whether Muttiah could be a bowler at two meetings at the end of the 20th century. As a result, the majority of votes were positive. Thanks to this fact, cricket fans were able to observe the unique throws of an athlete from Sri Lanka.